The Center for Craniofacial Anomalies of the A. Lincoln School of Medicine at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago is a multidisciplinary organization providing comprehensive care for patients with congenital, developmental and acquired anomalies. The Center organizes special training programs and conducts clinical and laboratory research. The Center's resources are augmented through a collaborating consortium of regional institutions designed to provide optimal care for the special patient at the lowest cost. This arrangement also increases resources available for clinical and laboratory investigations. The major research thrust is a continuing longitudinal growth study to record the natural history of various malformations beginning with the infant. The data base includes patient and family histories, photographs, study casts of the dental arches, cephalometric and tomographic radiographs, audiometric and speech records. Current projects focus on the epidemiology and genetics of congenital palatopharyngeal incompetence, cleft lip and palate, and otocraniofacial syndromes. The effectiveness and benefits derived from craniofacial reconstruction of hemifacial microsomia, orbital hypertelorism, Apert, Crouzon, mandibulofacial dysostosis, etc. are under investigation. The Center's data bank provides electronic data processing for storage, retrieval and analysis of information in a format designed to meet user needs. The hearing physiology laboratory studies the effect of craniofacial malformations on the peripheral and central auditory mechanisms. The speech science laboratory is similarly engaged. Ophthalmologists are presently investigating the effect of defects in the lid and limbus of the cornea on vision clinically and in experimental animals. Additional active sections involved in the study of pathogenetic mechanisms include biochemistry, genetics and dermatology.